Safety Guidelines for Home Pools

Swimming pools should always be happy places.Unfortunately, each year thousands of American families confront swimming pool tragedies, drowning's and near-drowning's of young children. These tragedies are preventable. These are guidelines for pool barriers that can help prevent most submersion incidents involving young children. This designed for use by owners, purchasers, and builders of residential pools, spas, and hot tubs. These guidelines are not intended as the sole method to minimize pool drowning of young children, just helpful safety tips for safer pools.

Each year, hundreds of young children die and thousands come close to death due to submersion in residential swimming pools. CPSC has estimated that each year about 300 children under 5 years old drown in swimming pools. Hospital emergency room treatment is required for more than 2,000 children under 5 years of age who were submerged in residential pools. CPSC did an extensive study of swimming pool accidents, both fatal drowning's and near-fatal submersions, in California, Arizona and Florida, states in which home swimming pools are very popular and in use during much of the year.

In California, Arizona and Florida,drowning was the leading cause of accidentaldeath in and around the home forchildren under the age of 5 years.

75 percent of the children involved in swimming pool submersion or drowning accidents were between 1 and 3 years old.

Boys between 1 and 3 years old were the most likely victims of fatal drowning's and near-fatal submersions in residential swimming pools.

Most of the victims were being supervised by one or both parents when the swimming pool accident occurred.

Nearly half of the child victims were last seen in the house before the pool accident occurred. In addition, 23 percent of the accident victims were last seen on the porch or patio, or in the yard.

This means that fully 69 percent of the children who became victims in swimming pool accidents were not expected to be in or at the pool, but were found drowned or submerged in the water.

65 percent of the accidents occurred in a pool owned by the victims immediate family, and 33 percent of the accidents occurred in pools owned by relatives or friends.

Fewer than 2 percent of the pool accidents were a result of children trespassing on property where they didnt live or belong.

77 percent of the swimming pool accident victims had been missing for five minutes or less when they were found in the pool drowned or submerged.

The speed with which swimming pool drowning's and submersions can occur is a special concern: by the time a childs absence is noted, the child may have drowned. Anyone who has cared for a toddler knows how fast young children can move. Toddlers are inquisitive and impulsive and lack a realistic sense of danger. These behaviors, coupled with a childs ability to move quickly and unpredictably make swimming pools particularly hazardous for households with young children.

Swimming pool drowning's of youngchildren have another particularly insidiousfeature: these are silent deaths. It isunlikely that splashing or screaming willoccur to alert a parent or caregiver that achild is in trouble.The best way to reducechild drowning's in residentialpools wasfor pool owners to construct and maintainbarriers that would prevent young childrenfrom gaining access to pools.However, there are no substitutes for diligentsupervision.

Why the Swimming Pool Guidelines Were Developed

Young child can getover a pool barrier ifthe barrier is too low orif the barrier has handholds orfootholds for a child to usewhen climbing. The guidelines recommend that the top of a pool barrier be at least 48 inches above grade, measured on the side of the barrier which faces away from the swimming pool.

Eliminating handholds and footholds and minimizing the size of openings in a barriers construction.

For a solid barrierno indentations or protrusionsshould be present, other thannormal construction tolerancesand masonry joints. For a barrier (fence) made up of horizontal and vertical members ifthe distance between thetops of the horizontal membersis less than 45 inches, the horizontal members should beon the swimming pool side ofthe fence. The spacing of thevertical members should notexceed 1-3/4 inches. This sizeis based on the foot width of ayoung child and is intended toreduce the potential for achild to gain a foothold. Ifthere are any decorative cutoutsin the fence, the spacewithin the cutouts should notexceed 1-3/4 inches.

The definition of pool includes spas and hot tubs. The swimming pool barrier guidelines therefore apply to these structures as well as to conventional swimming pools.

How to Prevent a Child fromGetting OVER a Pool Barrier

A successful pool barrier prevents a child from getting OVER,UNDER, or THROUGH andkeeps the child from gainingaccess to the pool except whensupervising adults are present.

The Swimming Pool Barrier Guidelines

If the distance between thetops of the horizontal membersis more than 45 inches, thehorizontal members can be onthe side of the fence facingaway from the pool. The spacingbetween vertical membersshould not exceed 4 inches.This size is based on the headbreadth and chest depth of ayoung child and is intended toprevent a child from passingthrough an opening. Again, ifthere are any decorativecutouts in the fence, the spacewithin the cutouts should notexceed 1-3/4 inches.

For a chain link fence the mesh size should not exceed 1-1/4 inches square unless slats, fastened at the top or bottom of the fence, are used to reduce mesh openings to no more than 1-3/4 inches.

For a fence made up ofdiagonal members(latticework)the maximum opening inthe lattice should not exceed1-3/4 inches.

Aboveground pools should have barriers. The pool structure itself serves as a barrier or a barrier is mounted on top of the pool structure. Then, there are two possible ways to prevent young children from climbing up into an aboveground pool. The steps or ladder can be designed to be secured, locked or removed to prevent access, or the steps or ladder can be surrounded by a barrier such as those described above. For any pool barrier, the maximum clearance at the bottom of the barrier should not exceed 4 inches above grade, when the measurement is done on the side of the barrier facing away from the pool.

If an aboveground pool has a barrier on the top of the pool, the maximum vertical clearance between the top of the pool and the bottom of the barrier should not exceed 4 inches. Preventing a child from getting through a pool barrier can be done by restricting the sizes of openings in a barrier and by using self-closing and self-latching gates.

To prevent a young childfrom getting through a fenceor other barrier, all openingsshould be small enough so thata 4-inch diameter sphere cannotpass through. This size isbased on the head breadth andchest depth of a young child.

Gates

There are two kinds of gates which might be found on a residential property. Both can play a part in the design of a swimming pool barrier.

Pedestrian Gates are the gates peoplewalk through. Swimming poolbarriers should be equippedwith a gate or gates whichrestrict access to the pool. Alocking device should beincluded in the gate design.Gates should open out fromthe pool and should be self closingand self-latching. If agate is properly designed, evenif the gate is not completely latched, a young child pushingon the gate in order to enterthe pool area will at least closethe gate and may actually engage the latch.When the release mechanismof the self-latchingdevice is less than 54 inchesfrom the bottom of the gate,the release mechanism for thegate should be at least 3 inchesbelow the top of the gate onthe side facing the pool.Placing the release mechanismat this height prevents a youngchild from reaching over thetop of a gate and releasing thelatch.Also, the gate and barriershould have no openinggreater than 1/2 inch within18 inches of the latch releasemechanism. This prevents ayoung child from reachingthrough the gate and releasingthe latch.

Other gates should be equipped with self-latching devices. The self-latching devices should be installed as described for pedestrian gates.

How to Prevent a Child from Getting UNDER / THROUGH a Pool Barrier

In many homes, doors open directly onto the pool area or onto a patio which leads to the pool. In such cases, the wall of the house is an important part of the pool barrier, and passage through any doors in the house wall should be controlled by security measures. The importance of controlling a young childs movement from house to pool is demonstrated by the statistics obtained during CPSCs study of pool incidents in California, Arizona and Florida. Almost half (46 percent) of the children who became victims of pool accidents were last seen in the house just before they were found in the pool.

All doors which giveaccess to a swimming poolshould be equipped with anaudible alarm which soundswhen the door and/or screenare opened. The alarm shouldsound for 30 seconds or morewithin 7 seconds after thedoor is opened and should be loud,at least 85 decibels,when measured 10 feet awayfrom the alarm mechanism.The alarm sound should bedistinct from other sounds inthe house, such as the telephone,doorbell and smokealarm. The alarm should havean automatic reset feature.Because adults will wantto pass through house doors inthe pool barrier without settingoff the alarm, the alarm shouldhave a switch that allowsadults to temporarily deactivatethe alarm for up to 15seconds. The deactivationswitch could be a touch pad(keypad) or a manual switch,and should be located at least54 inches above the thresholdof the door covered by thealarm. This height was selectedbased on the reaching abilityof young children.

Power safety covers can be installed on pools to serve as security barriers. Power safety covers should conform to the specifications in ASTM F 1346-91. This standard specifies safety performance requirements for pool covers to protect young children from drowning. Self-closing doors with self-latching devices could also be used to safeguard doors which give ready access to a swimming pool.

Indoor Pools

When a pool is located completely within a house, thewalls that surround the poolshould be equipped to serve aspool safety barriers. Measuresrecommended above where ahouse wall serves as part of asafety barrier also apply for allthe walls surrounding anindoor pool.

Guidelines

An outdoor swimming pool, including an inground, aboveground, or onground pool,hot tub, or spa, should be provided with abarrier which complies with thefollowing:

1. The top of the barrier should be at least 48 inches above grade measured on the side of the barrier which faces away from the swimming pool. The maximum vertical clearance between grade and the bottom of the barrier should be 4 inches measured on the side of the barrier which faces away from the swimming pool. Where the top of the pool structure is above grade, such as an aboveground pool, the barrier may be at ground level, such as the pool structure, or mounted on top of the pool structure. Where the barrier is mounted on top of the pool structure, the maximum vertical clearance between the top of the pool structure and the bottom of the barrier should be 4 inches.

2. Openings in the barrier should notallow passage of a 4-inch diametersphere.

3. Solid barriers, which do not have openings, such as a masonry or stone wall, should not contain indentations or protrusions except for normal construction tolerances and tooled masonry joints.

4. Where the barrier is composed of horizontaland vertical members and the distancebetween the tops of the horizontal members is less than 45 inches, the horizontal members should be located on the swimming pool side of the fence. Spacing between vertical members should not exceed 1-3/4 inches in width. Where there are decorative cutouts, spacing within the cutouts should not

exceed 1-3/4 inches in width.

5. Where the barrier is composed of horizontal and vertical members and the distance between the tops of the horizontal members is 45 inches or more, spacing between vertical members should not exceed 4 inches. Where there are decorative cutouts, spacing within the cutouts should not exceed 1-3/4 inches in width.

6. Maximum mesh size for chain linkfences should not exceed 1-3/4 inchsquare unless the fence is provided withslats fastened at the top or the bottomwhich reduce the openings to no morethan 1-3/4 inches.

7. Where the barrier is composed of diagonal members, such as a lattice fence, the maximum opening formed by the diagonal members should be no more than 1-3/4 inches.

8. Access gates to the pool shouldbe equipped to accommodate alocking device. Pedestrian access gatesshould open outward, away from the pool,and should be self-closing and have a self latchingdevice. Gates other than pedestrianaccess gates should have a self-latchingdevice. Where the release mechanism ofthe self-latching device is located lessthan 54 inches from the bottom of thegate.

The release mechanism should be located on the pool side of the gate atleast 3 inches below the top of the gate.

The gate and barrier should have no opening greater than 1/2 inch within 18 inches of the release mechanism.

9. Where a wall of a dwelling serves as part of the barrier, one of the following should apply:

All doors with direct access to the poolthrough that wall should be equipped withan alarm which produces an audible warningwhen the door and its screen, if present,are opened. The alarm should soundcontinuously for a minimum of 30 secondswithin 7 seconds after thedoor is opened. The alarm should have a minimumsound pressure rating of 85 dBA at10 feet and the sound of the alarm shouldbe distinctive from other householdsounds, such as smoke alarms, telephones,and door bells. The alarm should automaticallyreset under all conditions. Thealarm should be equipped with manualmeans, such as touchpads or switches, totemporarily deactivate the alarm for a singleopening of the door from either direction.Such deactivation should last for nomore than 15 seconds. The deactivationtouch pads or switches should be located atleast 54 inches above the threshold of thedoor.

The pool should be equipped with a power safety cover which complies with ASTM F1346-91 listed below.

Other means of protection, such as self-closing doors with self-latching devices, are acceptable so long as the degree of protection afforded is not less than the protection afforded by the above.

10. Where an aboveground pool structure is used as a barrier or where the barrier is mounted on top of the pool structure, and the means of access is a ladder or steps, then:

The ladder to the pool or stepsshould be capable of being secured,locked or removed to prevent access.

The ladder or steps should be surroundedby a barrier. When the ladderor steps are secured, locked, or removed,any opening created should not allow thepassage of a 4-inch diameter sphere.

These guidelines are intended to provide a means of protection against potential drowning's and narrowing to children under 5 years of age by restricting access to residential swimming pools, spas, and hot tubs.

Exemptions

A portable spa with a safety cover which complies with ASTM F1346-91 listed below should be exempt from the guidelines presented in this document. Swimming pools, hot tubs, and non portable spas with safety covers should not be exempt from the provisions of this document.